TY - JOUR AU - Smit, Brigitte PY - 2003/09/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Can Qualitative Research Inform Policy Implementation? Evidence and Arguments from a Developing Country Context JF - Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research JA - FQS VL - 4 IS - 3 SE - Single Contributions DO - 10.17169/fqs-4.3.678 UR - https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/678 SP - AB - How can qualitative research inform policy implementation? This article hopes to shed some light on this complex yet relevant issue and locates this inquiry in a transitional South African context. I intend to qualitatively reveal the local teacher voice, in times of transition and show how such knowledge could contribute to policy implementation. That said, I argue that although teachers play an important role in our education system, more often than not, the teacher voice is a silent voice, which implies that local knowledge for policy implementation might be underplayed, discounted or simply ignored. First, I briefly discuss the development of qualitative research in policy-oriented work. Second, I work from an interpretive perspective to illuminate teacher voice as local knowledge, discussing resistant behaviour and the responses of experienced teachers. Finally, I conclude how qualitative research offers substance and deep nuanced understandings of the complexities at the levels of policy implementation.URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs030363 ER -